Information processing device, control method, and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium

ABSTRACT

An information processing device includes a collecting unit which collects user&#39;s biological information. The information processing device includes a determining unit which determines an emotion of the user by using the biological information collected by the collecting unit. The information processing device includes an output unit which outputs in association with information representing the user and the emotion of the user determined by the determining unit to terminal devices which are used by other users.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to and incorporates by referencethe entire contents of Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-177337 filedin Japan on Aug. 28, 2013.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an information processing device, acontrol method, and a recording medium.

2. Description of the Related Art

In the related art, a technique which determines a mental state or anemotion of a user based on the user's biological information obtainedfrom the user and provides a service in accordance with the mental stateand the emotion of the user has been known. As an example of such atechnique, an information terminal device which detects the emotion ofthe user and processes a message in process of creation by the user inaccordance with the detected emotion is known.

For example, when the user creates a message, the information terminaldevice measures the user's biological information using a biosensor andcalculates information representing strength of the mental state or theemotion of the user using the measured biological information. Theinformation terminal device processes a mail, which is created by theuser, and transmits the processed mail based on the calculatedinformation to deliver the emotion of the user.

Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2013-029928

However, in the related art, the emotion of the user is transmitted onlyto a destination of the message so that it is difficult to transmit theemotion of the user to a location other than the transmissiondestination. Therefore, in the related art, it is difficult to determinewhether a timing to transmit a message is good after confirming theemotion of the user of the transmission destination in advance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to at least partially solve theproblems in the conventional technology.

According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, Aninformation processing device includes a collecting unit which collectsuser's biological information. The information processing deviceincludes a determining unit which determines an emotion of the user byusing the biological information collected by the collecting unit. Theinformation processing device includes an output unit which outputs inassociation with information representing the user and the emotion ofthe user determined by the determining unit to terminal devices whichare used by other users.

The above and other objects, features, advantages and technical andindustrial significance of this invention will be better understood byreading the following detailed description of presently preferredembodiments of the invention, when considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a function demonstratedby an information providing system according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functionalconfiguration of a terminal device according to the exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an emotional informationmanagement table according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functionalconfiguration of an emotion determining server according to theexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in anemotional score management table according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a process in which anemotion determining server according to the exemplary embodimentdetermines emotion of the user;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functionalconfiguration of a social network server according to the exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in afriend management table according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of information displayed bya terminal device according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of informationdisplayed by a terminal device according to the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a process which isperformed by the emotion determining server according to the exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a process which isperformed by the terminal device according to the exemplary embodiment;and

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configurationof a computer which executes a control program.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a mode for carrying out an information processing device, acontrol method, and a recording medium according to the exemplaryembodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.Further, the information processing device, the control method, and therecording medium according to the exemplary embodiment are not limitedto the exemplary embodiment. In the exemplary embodiments, likecomponent is denoted by like reference numeral and redundant descriptionwill not be provided.

1. Information Providing System

First, an example of a process which is performed by an informationproviding system including an emotion determining server which is anexample of an information processing device of the exemplary embodimentwill be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a diagramillustrating an example of a function demonstrated by an informationproviding system according to an exemplary embodiment. As illustrated inFIG. 1, an information providing system 1 has a configuration in which abiological information acquiring device 10, terminal devices 20 and 60,an emotion determining server 40, a social network server 50 areconnected through a network 2.

Further, it is assumed that in the information providing system 1, aplurality of terminal devices are further included. Further, theterminal devices 20 and 60 are used by different users. In the followingdescription, an example in which the terminal device 60 is used by auser #1 and the terminal device 20 is used by a user #2 will bedescribed.

The biological information acquiring device 10 is a wearable devicewhich acquires biological information of a user. For example, thebiological information acquiring device 10 is mounted in a wrist of theuser #2 and acquires various biosensor values, such as a heart rate, apulse, a body temperature, a myoelectric change, an electro-dermalactivity (EDA), a voice, a walking distance, and a walking time, fromthe user. The biological information acquiring device 10 outputs theacquired various biosensor values to the terminal device 20 using nearfield wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) ora wireless local area network (LAN).

The terminal device 20 is a terminal device of a user to whom thebiological information acquiring device 10 is mounted and is aninformation processing device such as a smart phone, a tablet terminal,a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a notebook personal computer(PC). Further, when the biosensor values of the user #2 are receivedfrom the biological information acquiring device 10, the terminal device20 displays the received biosensor values to encourage the user #2 towhom the biological information acquiring device 10 is mounted to managea health condition or the like.

Further, the terminal device 20 may transmit and receive a message toand from the terminal device 60 which is used by another user by afunction provided by the social network server 50. For example, theterminal device 60 inquires of the social network server 50 to acquire afriend list of the user #1 who is a user of the terminal device 60. Theterminal device 60 displays the acquired friend list screen.

Thereafter, when the user #1 selects a destination of a message from thefriend list screen and inputs a content of the message, the terminaldevice 60 transmits a message added with a user ID (identification)indicating the user #1 and a user ID indicating a user who is thetransmission destination to the social network server 50. Further, whenthe message is transmitted and received, the terminal device 60generates a thread for every combination of users who transmit andreceive the message and displays transmitted and received messages onthe generated thread being arranged in the transmitting and receivingorder in parallel.

The social network server 50 manages friends of each user and outputsthe friend list corresponding to the user to the terminal devices 20 and60 in accordance with a request from the terminal devices 20 and 60.Further, when the message is received, the social network server 50extracts the user ID of the transmission destination from the receivedmessage and transmits the received message to the terminal device of auser who is identified by the extracted user ID. For example, when amessage which is transmitted from the user #1 to the user #2 isreceived, the social network server 50 transmits the received message tothe terminal device 20 of the user #2.

Further, the social network server 50 may have a function as a microblogwhich opens the message in the format of a message board to the publicor a function which opens data such as a text or a picture which isposted by the user to other users in addition to relay of a messagetransmitted and received between the users. In other words, the socialnetwork server 50 may be a server which provides an arbitrary socialnetworking service (SNS) which transmits and receives a message or databetween arbitrary users.

Further, a specific example of the SNS includes Kakao Talk (registeredtrademark) or Yahoo! Blog (registered trademark), Twitter (registeredtrademark), pixiv (registered trademark), Facebook (registeredtrademark), or Myspace (registered trademark). Further, hereinafter, anexample that the social network server 50 relays a message to betransmitted and received between the users will be described.

Here, when the user #2 who is a user of the terminal device 20 is in abad mood and does not want to receive the message from other people, asituation when the user #1 who is a user of the terminal device 60 wantsto determine whether to contact with the user #2, for example, totransmit the message in accordance with the mood of the user #2 isconsidered. However, in the related art, when the message is nottransmitted, it is difficult to notify the emotion to the transmissiondestination so that it is difficult to determine whether to contact witha friend in accordance with the emotion of the friend.

The information providing system 1 has an emotion determining server 40which uses a biosensor value obtained from the user to specify emotionof the user and notify the specified emotion to other users.Hereinafter, an example of a process which is performed by the emotiondetermining server 40 will be described.

First, as illustrated in (a) of FIG. 1, the biological informationacquiring device 10 regularly acquires the biosensor value from the user#2 and transmits the acquired biosensor value to the terminal device 20.In this case, the terminal device 20 generates awakening degree or apleasant degree of the user from the received biosensor value. Theterminal device 20 treats a pair of the generated awakening degree andthe pleasant degree as an emotional score and transmits the emotionalscore to the emotion determining server 40 through a network 2, asillustrated in (b) of FIG. 1.

In the meantime, the emotion determining server 40 uses the emotionalscore received from the terminal device 20 to specify the emotion of theuser #2. For example, the emotion determining server 40 uses theawakening degree or the pleasant degree of the emotional score tospecify one of “excited state”, “delight state”, “relaxed state”, “boredstate”, “depressed state”, “sad state”, “panic state” and “angry state”as the emotion of the user.

The emotion determining server 40, as illustrated in (c) of FIG. 1,transmits emotional information representing a specified emotion to thesocial network server 50. In other words, the emotion determining server40 notifies the emotion of the user #2 to the social network server 50in order to display the emotion of the user #2 in the terminal device ofa friend of the user #2.

In this case, as illustrated in (d) of FIG. 1, the social network server50 specifies the terminal device of the user who includes the user #2 inthe friend list and instructs the specified terminal device to displayinformation representing the emotion of the user #2. For example, thesocial network server 50 instructs the terminal device 60 of the user #1who includes the user #2 in the friend list to display an iconrepresenting that the emotion of the user #2 is a predetermined emotion(for example, “angry state”). As a result, as illustrated in (e) of FIG.1, the terminal device 60 displays an icon representing the emotion ofthe user #2.

Further, the terminal device 60 may display icons representingrespective emotions specified by the emotion determining server 40 inaccordance with a notice from the social network server 50. As a result,for example, when the emotion of the user #2 is a predetermined emotion,the user #1 may determine whether to contact with the user #2 inaccordance with the emotion of the destination of the message, forexample, by declining to transmit the message.

Further, as illustrated in (f) of FIG. 1, when a user having apredetermined emotion (for example, “angry state”) is selected as thedestination of the message, the terminal device 60 displays that thetransmission of the message is restricted and does not transmit themessage. That is, the terminal device 60 controls the transmission ofthe message in accordance with the emotion of the user who is thedestination of the message. Accordingly, the terminal device 60 mayprevent the user from erroneously transmitting the message to a user whois in a bad mood.

Further, in the above-described example, although the emotiondetermining server 40 transmits the emotional information to the socialnetwork server 50, the emotion determining server 40 may discriminate aterminal device which is used by a friend of each user and directlytransmit instruction to display the emotion of the user to the terminaldevice of the discriminated friend. In other words, the informationproviding system 1 may be configured to demonstrate the functionsdemonstrated by the emotion determining server 40 and the social networkserver 50 using one information processing device.

The terminal devices 20 and 60 may display the emotions of the friendsnot on a screen which selects a point of contact but on a list screen ofconnected friends. Further, the terminal devices 20 and 60 may displaythe emotions of the friends as a form of alert. That is, if the terminaldevices 20 and 60 can display the emotions of other users, the terminaldevices 20 and 60 may display the emotion in an arbitrary displayformat.

Further, the social network server 50 may determine whether to open datasuch as a text or a picture which is sent to the friend by the user inaccordance with the emotion of the user, similarly to the terminaldevices 20 and 60. For example, when data such as the text or thepicture posted by the user is open to the friend, if the emotion of theuser is a predetermined emotion (for example, “angry state”), the socialnetwork server 50 may restrict opening the data.

In the following description, it is assumed that the social networkserver 50 relays the message between the users. Further, in thefollowing description, when the emotion of the user who is thedestination of the message is “angry state”, the terminal devices 20 and60 restrict the transmission of the message.

2. Functional Configuration of Terminal Device

Next, a functional configuration of the terminal device 20 according tothe exemplary embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2.FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functionalconfiguration of the terminal device according to the exemplaryembodiment. In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, the terminal device 20includes a communication unit 21, a biological information control unit22, a display control unit 23, a message control unit 24, and a storageunit 25. Further, the biological information control unit 22 includes acollecting unit 28, and a delivery unit 29. Furthermore, the messagecontrol unit 24 includes a receiving unit 30, an updating unit 31, aninput unit 32, a determining unit 33, and a transmitting unit 34.Further, the storage unit 25 stores a message table 26 and an emotionalinformation management table 27.

First, the message table 26 and the emotional information managementtable 27 which are stored by the storage unit 25 will be described. Themessage table 26 is a table in which message transmitted and received bythe terminal device 20 is stored. For example, in the message table 26,the messages which are transmitted and received by the user #1 or theuser #2 are stored in a time series.

The emotional information management table 27 stores emotionalinformation representing emotion of each user. For example, FIG. 3 is adiagram illustrating an example of an emotional information managementtable according to the exemplary embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 3, auser ID and the emotional information are stored in the emotionalinformation management table 27 in association with each other.

For example, in an example illustrated in FIG. 3, in the emotionalinformation management table 27, a user ID “user #2” of the user #2 andthe emotional information “angry state” are stored in associated witheach other and a user ID “user #3” and the emotional information“relaxed state” are stored in associated with each other. Further, inthe emotional information management table 27, a user ID “user #4” andthe emotional information “sad state” are stored in associated with eachother.

Referring to FIG. 2 again, description will be continued. Thecommunication unit 21 controls communication between the biologicalinformation acquiring device 10, the emotion determining server 40, andthe social network server 50. Specifically, when a biosensor valueacquisition request is received from the collecting unit 28, thecommunication unit 21 transmits the biosensor value acquisition requestto the biological information acquiring device 10 through a near fieldwireless communication. When the biosensor value is received from thebiological information acquiring device 10, the communication unit 21outputs the received biosensor value to the collecting unit 28. Further,when an emotional score notice including the emotional score and theuser ID indicating a user who is an acquisition source of the emotionalscore is received from the delivery unit 29, the communication unit 21transmits the received emotional score notice to the emotion determiningserver 40 through the network 2.

Further, when a message is received from the social network server 50,the communication unit 21 outputs the received message to the receivingunit 30. Furthermore, when emotional information notice includingemotional information representing emotions of other users and a user IDof the user is received from the social network server 50, thecommunication unit 21 outputs the received emotional information noticeto the updating unit 31. When a message is received from thetransmitting unit 34, the communication unit 21 outputs the receivedmessage to the social network server 50.

Next, functions of the collecting unit 28 and the delivery unit 29included in the biological information control unit 22 will bedescribed. The collecting unit 28 acquires the biosensor value of theuser #1 at a predetermined time interval. For example, the collectingunit 28 generates the biosensor value acquisition request at apredetermined time interval or in accordance with the request from theuser #1 and outputs the biosensor value acquisition request to thecommunication unit 21. As a result, the collecting unit 28 receives thebiosensor value acquired by the biological information acquiring device10 through the communication unit 21.

The collecting unit 28 generates an emotional score which is a set ofawakening degree of the user and the pleasant degree of the user fromthe received biosensor value. For example, the collecting unit 28generates a numerical value obtained by evaluating the awakening degreeor the pleasant degree at 10 levels of −5 to 5. The collecting unit 28outputs the generated set of the numerical values to the display controlunit 23 and the delivery unit 29 as the emotional score.

The delivery unit 29 transmits the emotional score to the emotiondetermining server 40. Specifically, when the emotional score isreceived from the collecting unit 28, the delivery unit 29 generates anemotional score notice including the user ID of the user who is anacquisition source of the received emotional score and the receivedemotional score and outputs the generated emotional score notice to thecommunication unit 21. Further, the delivery unit 29 caches theemotional score received from the collecting unit 28 in the storage unit25 and outputs the cached emotional scores to the emotion determiningserver 40 when a predetermined quantity of the emotional scores arecached.

The display control unit 23 controls a display device which is includedin the terminal device 20. For example, when the emotional score isreceived from the collecting unit 28, the display control unit 23displays the received emotional score on screen of the terminal device20 which has not been illustrated. Further, contents which are displayedon the screen of the terminal device 20 by the display control unit 23may vary depending on the contents of a program set by the user #2. Forexample, the display control unit 23 may create a screen showing a liferhythm or an exercising amount of the user from arbitrary biologicalinformation including the biosensor value or the emotional score anddisplay the created screen.

Further, the display control unit 23 displays a message which istransmitted and received by the terminal device 20. For example, when itis requested to display a message from the receiving unit 30, thedisplay control unit 23 reads the message from the message table 26.Further, the display control unit 23 reads a message related with theread message, for example, the message transmitted and received by thesame user and displays the read message in the transmitting or receivingorder in the screen which has not been illustrated.

Further, when a screen which selects the destination of the message isdisplayed by the manipulation of the user, the display control unit 23performs following processes. First, the display control unit 23acquires the emotional information representing the emotion of the userfrom the emotional information management table 27. The display controlunit 23 displays an icon representing the emotion of each user on thescreen which selects the destination of the message based on theacquired emotional information to notify the emotion of the user who isthe destination of the message. For example, when the user ID “user #2”of the user #2 is stored in the emotional information management table27 in associated with the “angry state”, the display control unit 23displays an icon representing “angry state” next to a name of the user#2.

Further, when the determining unit 33 requests the display control unit23 to display a notice indicating that the transmission of the messageis restricted, the display control unit 23 displays the noticeindicating that the transmission of the message is restricted on thescreen.

Next, functions of the receiving unit 30, the updating unit 31, theinput unit 32, the determining unit 33, and the transmitting unit 34included in the message control unit 24 will be described. When amessage sent to the user #1 is received, the receiving unit 30 storesthe received message in the message table 26. The receiving unit 30requests the display control unit 23 to display the received message.

The updating unit 31 updates the information stored in the emotionalinformation management table 27.

Specifically, when the emotional information notice is received from thecommunication unit 21, the updating unit 31 extracts the user ID and theemotional information from the received emotional information notice.The updating unit 31 updates emotional information which is associatedwith the extracted user ID among the emotional information stored in theemotional information management table 27 to the extracted emotionalinformation.

The input unit 32 acquires contents manipulated by the user.Specifically, the input unit 32 outputs a user ID indicating a userselected by the user to the determining unit 33 on a screen whichselects a user who is a point of contact. When the instruction totransmit the message is received from the determining unit 33, the inputunit 32 accepts the input of the message by the user and outputs theaccepted message to the transmitting unit 34. In contrast, when theinstruction to transmit the message is not received from the determiningunit 33, the input unit 32 ends the process without accepting the inputof the message.

The determining unit 33 determines whether to transmit the message tothe user in accordance with the emotion of the user who is thedestination of the message. Specifically, the determining unit 33receives the user ID of the user who is the destination of the messagefrom the input unit 32. In this case, the determining unit 33 acquiresthe emotional information which is associated with the received user IDfrom the emotional information management table 27. The determining unit33 determines whether the acquired emotional information is “angrystate”.

Here, if the determining unit 33 determines that the acquired emotionalinformation is the “angry state”, the determining unit 33 requests thedisplay control unit 23 to display the notice indicating that thetransmission of the message is restricted and ends the process withoutoutputting instruction to transmit the message to the determining unit33. In contrast, if it is not determined that the acquired emotionalinformation is the “angry state”, the determining unit 33 outputs aninstruction to transmit the message to the input unit 32.

The transmitting unit 34 transmits a message. Specifically, when themessage is received from the input unit 32, the transmitting unit 34adds a user ID of a user who is the transmission source of the messageand a user ID of a user who is the destination of the message to themessage. The transmitting unit 34 requests to output the message to thecommunication unit 21 and to transmit the message to the social networkserver 50. Further, the transmitting unit 34 stores the transmittedmessage in the message table 26.

3. Functional Configuration of Emotion Determining Server

Next, a functional configuration of the emotion determining server 40according to the exemplary embodiment will be described with referenceto FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functionalconfiguration of the emotion determining server according to theexemplary embodiment. In an example illustrated in FIG. 4, the emotiondetermining server 40 includes a communication unit 41, a control unit42, and a storage unit 43. Further, the storage unit 43 stores anemotional score management table 44. Furthermore, the control unit 42includes a receiving unit 45, a determining unit 46, and a notifyingunit 47.

First, the emotional score management table 44 which is stored by thestorage unit 13 will be described with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is adiagram illustrating an example of information stored in the emotionalscore management table according to the exemplary embodiment. Asillustrated in FIG. 5, in the emotional score management table 44, anemotional score which is acquired from a user identified by a user ID inassociated with the user ID is stored in time series in a format of(awakening degree, a pleasant degree).

For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 5, in the emotionalscore management table 44, emotions scores (5,1) and (5,3) which areacquired in time series in associated with the user ID “user #1” arestored. Further, in the example illustrated in FIG. 5, in the emotionalscore management table 44, emotions scores (5,−4) and (4,−3) which areacquired in time series in associated with the user ID “user #2” arestored.

Referring to FIG. 4 again, description will be continued. Thecommunication unit 41 controls the communication between the emotiondetermining server 40, the terminal devices 20 and 60, and the socialnetwork server 50. Specifically, when the emotional score notice isreceived from the terminal devices 20 and 60 through the network 2, thecommunication unit 41 outputs the received emotional score notice to thereceiving unit 45. Further, when the emotional information noticerepresenting the emotion of the user is received from the notifying unit47, the communication unit 41 transmits the received emotionalinformation notice to the social network server 50 through the network2.

The receiving unit 45 receives the emotional score acquired from theuser. Specifically, when the emotional score notice is received from thecommunication unit 41, the receiving unit 45 extracts the user ID andthe emotional score from the received emotional score notice. Thereceiving unit 45 stores the emotional score in the emotional scoremanagement table 44 in associated with the extracted user ID.

The determining unit 46 uses the emotional score obtained from the userto determine the emotion of the user. For example, the determining unit46 reads the latest awakening degree and pleasant degree among theawakening degree and the pleasant degree which are the emotional scoreof the user who is an object to be determined at a predetermined timeinterval from the emotional score management table 44 and determines theemotion of the user based on the read awakening degree and pleasantdegree. The determining unit 46 outputs emotional informationrepresenting the determined emotion of the user and the user ID of theuser to the notifying unit 47.

Here, referring to FIG. 6, an example of a process of determining theemotion of the user by the determining unit 46 will be described. FIG. 6is a diagram illustrating an example of a process in which an emotiondetermining server according to the exemplary embodiment determines theemotion of the user. In FIG. 6, an example of a two-dimensional emotionmodel which is used to determine the emotion from the awakening degreeand the pleasant degree of the user is illustrated.

For example, when the awakening degree of the user has a positive valueand the pleasant degree has a negative value, the determining unit 46,as illustrated in (A) of FIG. 6, determines that the emotion of the useris in an “ultra negative status”, such as the “angry state” or the“panic state”. Specifically, the awakening degree of the user isapproximately “3” and a value of the pleasant degree is approximately ina range of “−5 to −2”, the determining unit 46 determines that theemotion of the user is “angry state” and the awakening degree of theuser is approximately in a range of “1 to 3” and a value of the pleasantdegree is approximately in a range of “−3 to 0”, the determining unit 46determines that the emotion of the user is “panic state”.

Further, as illustrated in (B) of FIG. 6, when the awakening degree ofthe user has a negative value and the pleasant degree has a negativevalue, the determining unit 46 determines that the emotion of the useris in a “negative status” such as “sad state”, “depressed state” or“bored state”. Specifically, when the awakening degree of the user isapproximately in a range of “−1 to 0” and a value of the pleasant degreeis approximately in a range of “−5 to −2”, the determining unit 46determines that the emotion of the user is “sad state”. When theawakening degree of the user is approximately in a range of “−3 to −1”and a value of the pleasant degree is approximately in a range of “−3 to−1”, the determining unit 46 determines that the emotion of the user is“depressed state”, and when the awakening degree of the user isapproximately in a range of “−5 to −3” and a value of the pleasantdegree is approximately in a range of “−3 to 0”, the determining unit 46determines that the emotion of the user is “bored state”.

Further, as illustrated in (C) of FIG. 6, when the awakening degree ofthe user has a negative value and the pleasant degree has a positivevalue, the determining unit 46 determines that the emotion of the useris in a “positive state” such as “relaxed state”. Specifically, when theawakening degree of the user is approximately in a range of “−4 to −3”and a value of the pleasant degree is approximately in a range of “0 to3”, the determining unit 46 determines that the emotion of the user is“relaxed state”.

Further, as illustrated in (D) of FIG. 6, when the awakening degree ofthe user has a positive value and the pleasant degree has a positivevalue, the determining unit 46 determines that the emotion of the useris in an “ultra positive status” such as “excited state” or “delightstate”. Specifically, when the awakening degree of the user isapproximately in a range of “3 to 5” and a value of the pleasant degreeis approximately in a range of “3 to 4”,the determining unit 46determines that the emotion of the user is “excited state”. When theawakening degree of the user is approximately in a range of “0 to 2” anda value of the pleasant degree is approximately in a range of “2 to 5”,the determining unit 46 determines that the emotion of the user is“delight state”.

Here, an example of a process which is performed by the determining unit46 will be described. For example, the determining unit 46 obtains a set(5, −4) of the awakening degree and the pleasant degree which isassociated with the user ID “user #2” of the user #2 from the emotionalscore management table 44 illustrated in FIG. 5. The determining unit 46determines that the emotion of the user #2 is “angry state” from theobtained set “(5,−4)” of the awakening degree and the pleasant degree.Thereafter, the determining unit 46 notifies the emotional informationrepresenting the “angry state” and the user ID “user #2” of the user #2to the notifying unit 47.

The two-dimensional emotion model illustrated in FIG. 6 is only anexample and the emotion determining server 40 may use an arbitraryemotion model to determine the emotion of the user. For example, thedetermining unit 46 may use a plurality of sets of the awakening degreeand the pleasant degree to determine the emotion of the user from atemporal transition of the awakening degree and the pleasant degree.

Referring to FIG. 4 again, description will be continued. The notifyingunit 47 notifies the emotion of the user to the social network server50. Specifically, the notifying unit 47 receives the user ID and theemotional information representing the emotion of the user which isidentified by the user ID from the determining unit 46. The notifyingunit 47 generates the emotional information notice including theemotional information representing the emotion of the user and the userID and outputs the generated emotional information notice to thecommunication unit 41.

4. Functional Configuration of Social Network Server

Next, a functional configuration of the social network server 50according to the exemplary embodiment will be described with referenceto FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functionalconfiguration of the social network server according to the exemplaryembodiment. In an example illustrated in FIG. 7, the social networkserver 50 includes a communication unit 51, a control unit 52, and astorage unit 53. Further, the storage unit 53 stores a friend managementtable 54. Further, the control unit 52 includes a receiving unit 55 anda transmitting unit 56.

First, an example of information stored in the friend management table54 which is stored in the storage unit 53 will be described. The friendmanagement table 54 is a table that manages a user who is the other userwho transmits and receives the message to and from the user, that is, auser ID of a friend. For example, FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating anexample of information stored in the friend management table accordingto the exemplary embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 8, in the friendmanagement table 54, the user ID and a user ID indicating a friend, thatis, a friend ID are stored in associated with each other.

For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 8, in the friendmanagement table 54, “user #2”, “user #3”, and “user #4” are stored as auser ID indicating the friend of the user #1. Further, in the friendmanagement table 54, “user #1”, “user #3”, and “user #4” are stored as auser ID indicating a friend of the user #2.

Referring to FIG. 7, description is continued. The communication unit 51controls the communication between the social network server 50, theterminal devices 20 and 60, and the emotion determining server 40. Forexample, when the message is received from the terminal devices 20 and60 through the network 2, the communication unit 51 outputs the receivedmessage to the receiving unit 55. Further, when the message is receivedfrom the transmitting unit 56, the communication unit 51 transmits thereceived message to the terminal devices 20 and 60.

Further, when the emotional information notice is received from theemotion determining server 40, the communication unit 51 outputs thereceived emotional information notice to the receiving unit 55. Further,when the user ID of the user who is the transmission destination isreceived from the transmitting unit 56 together with the emotionalinformation notice, the communication unit 51 transmits the receivedemotional information notice to the terminal device of the useridentified by the received user ID.

When the message transmitted by the terminal devices 20 and 60 isreceived, the receiving unit 55 outputs the received message to thetransmitting unit 56. Further, when the emotional information notice isreceived, the receiving unit 55 extracts the emotional information andthe user ID from the received emotional information notice and outputsthe extracted emotional information and user ID to the transmitting unit56.

When the message is received from the receiving unit 55, thetransmitting unit 56 outputs the received message to the communicationunit 51 and transmits the message to the terminal device of the user whois the transmission destination. Further, when the emotional informationand the user ID are received, the transmitting unit 56 acquires the userID of a friend which is associated with the received user ID from thefriend management table 54. The transmitting unit 56 creates theemotional information notice including the received emotionalinformation and user ID and requests the communication unit 51 totransmit the created emotional information notice to the user ID whichis acquired from the friend management table 54.

5. Displaying Example in Terminal Device

Next, an example of information which is displayed by the terminaldevice 60 will be described with reference to FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is adiagram illustrating an example of information displayed by a terminaldevice according to the exemplary embodiment. For example, the terminaldevice 60 displays the friend list as a screen which selects a user whois the destination of the message by the manipulation of the user, asillustrated in (E) of FIG. 9. In this case, the terminal device 60displays not only the name of each friend, but also an icon representingthe emotion of each user. For example, as illustrated in (F) of FIG. 9,the terminal device 60 displays an icon indicating that the emotion ofthe user #2 is “angry state”.

Further, the terminal device 60 displays that the emotion of the user #3is “relaxed state”, the emotion of the user #4 is “sad state”, and theemotion of the user #5 is “relaxed state”. Therefore, the terminaldevice 60 may determine whether to contact with the user who is thedestination of the message in accordance with the emotion of the user.Further, the terminal device 60 also displays the icon indicating theemotion “relaxed state” of the user #1, that is, the user of theterminal device 60. Therefore, the terminal device 60 may easilyidentify the emotion of the user himself/herself which is open to theother people.

Here, when the user of the terminal device 60 selects the user #2, asillustrated in (G) of FIG. 9, the terminal device 60 displays a noticeindicating that the message cannot be transmitted to the user #2 anddoes not transmit the message. As a result, the terminal device 60 mayrestrict the transmission of the message to a user who is in bad mood.

When it is possible to display the emotions of other users, the terminaldevice 60 may display the emotion in the different format. For example,the terminal device 60 may display the icons indicating the respectivefriends in a position in accordance with the emotions of the friends, ona predetermined axis or a predetermined plane.

For example, FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example ofinformation displayed by the terminal device according to the exemplaryembodiment. Referring to FIG. 10, an example that displays iconsrepresenting users A to J who are friends of the user #1 is described.Further, in the example illustrated in FIG. 10, an emotion which is the“ultra negative state” is described as “feel bad”, an emotion which isthe “negative state” is described as “depressed”, an emotion which isthe “positive state” is described as “relax” and an emotion which is the“ultra positive state” is described as “happy”.

For example, the terminal device 60 displays the icons representing thefriends on two-dimensional “awakening degree and pleasant degrees” planehaving a horizontal axis direction as the pleasant degree as illustratedin (H) of FIG. 10, and a vertical axis direction as the awakening degreeas illustrated in (I) of FIG. 10. Specifically, the terminal device 60displays an icon to which a color or a shape is added in accordance withthe emotional score of the user in a position indicating the emotionalscore of the user.

For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 10, the terminal device60 displays the icons representing the users A to J as the friends ofthe user #1 who uses the terminal device 60 on the “pleasantdegree-awakening degree” axial plane and displays the icon such that aleading edge of a protruding portion of the icon indicates a position ofthe coordinate corresponding to the emotional score of the user. Whenthe detailed example is described, the terminal device 60 arranges iconsrepresenting users B and H in an area which indicates the emotion “feelbad” and adds the color or shape to the icons in accordance with theemotional score of the users B and H. In the example illustrated in FIG.10, since the emotional score of the user B is a value representing anemotion which is more negative than the emotional score of the user H,the terminal device 60 colors the icon representing the user B to bedarker than the icon representing the user H.

Further, the terminal device 60 arranges icons representing users A andF in an area which indicates the emotion “depressed” and adds the coloror shape to the icons in accordance with the emotional scores of theusers A and. F. The terminal device 60 arrange an icon representing auser F in an area which indicates the emotion “relax” and adds the coloror shape to the icon in accordance with the emotional score of the userE. Further, the terminal device 60 arranges icons representing users Cand D in an area which indicates the emotion “happy” and adds the coloror shape to the icons in accordance with the emotional scores of theusers C and D.

Further, the terminal device 60 arranges an icon representing a user Gnear a boundary of an area indicating the emotion “relax” and an areaindicating the emotion “happy” and adds the color or the shape to theicons in accordance with the emotional score of the user G. Further, theterminal device 60 arranges an icon representing a user J near aboundary of an area indicating the emotion “feel bad” and an areaindicating the emotion “happy” and adds the color or the shape to theicons in accordance with the emotional score of the user J. Further, theterminal device 60 arranges an icon representing a user I near aboundary of the respective areas and adds the color or the shape to theicons in accordance with the emotional score of the user I. In theexample illustrated in FIG. 10, the icon of the user I is colored withwhite without having a shape so as to indicate that there is no emotion.

As described above, the terminal device 60 displays the icons of thefriends so as to have the color or the shape in a position in accordancewith the emotions of the friends. Therefore, the terminal device 60displays icons representing friends having similar emotions to be closeto each other and displays icons representing friends having differentemotions to be separated from each other. Accordingly, it is possible todiscriminate the emotions of the friends. For example, the terminaldevice 60 can easily discriminate a friend having an emotion “happy”.

Further, in the above-described example, although the icons of thefriends are displayed on the two-dimensional “pleasant degree-awakeningdegree” axis plane where the horizontal direction is the pleasant degreeand the vertical direction is the awakening degree, the exemplaryembodiment is not limited thereto. For example, the terminal device 60may display the icons in the position corresponding to the emotions ofthe friends on one-dimensional axis indicating the emotion from the“ultra negative” to the “ultra positive”. That is, if the terminaldevice 60 displays the icons representing the friends in a position inaccordance with the emotions of the friends on a screen indicating theemotions of the friends, an arbitrary display method may be applied.

6. Flow of Process Performed by Emotion Determining Server

Next, a flow of a process which is performed by the emotion determiningserver 40 will be described with reference to FIG. 11. FIG. 11 is aflowchart illustrating a flow of a process which is performed by theemotion determining server according to the exemplary embodiment. Asillustrated in FIG. 11, first, in step S101, the emotion determiningserver 40 receives the emotional score of the user. Next, in step S102,the emotion determining server 40 calculates the emotion of the userusing the acquired emotional score.

Next, in step S103, the emotion determining server 40 transmitsemotional information representing the calculated emotion and the userID of the user to the social network server 50. As a result, in stepS104, the social network server 50 transmits the emotional informationto the terminal device which is used by a friend of the user identifiedby the received user ID and displays the user's emotional information onthe terminal device. Thereafter, the emotion determining server 40 endsthe process.

7. Flow of Process Which is Performed by Terminal Device

Next, a flow of a process of the terminal device 60 which controls totransmit the message in accordance with the emotion of the user will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 12. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustratinga flow of a process which is performed by the terminal device accordingto the exemplary embodiment. For example, in step S201, the terminaldevice 60 stores the emotional information received from the emotiondetermining server 40 through the social network server 50. Next, instep S202, the terminal device 60 specifies a selected user in aselection screen of a destination of the message. Here, in step S203,the terminal device 60 determines whether the emotional information ofthe selected user is “angry state”.

If it is determined that the user's emotional information is a specificstate, for example, “angry state” (Yes in step S203), the terminaldevice 60 displays that the transmission of the message is restricted instep S204 and ends the process. In the meantime, if it is determinedthat the user's emotional information is not “angry state”, (No in stepS203), the terminal device 60 displays the message input screen toreceive the input of the message and transmits the input message in stepS205 and ends the process.

8. Modified Embodiment

The information providing system 1 according to the exemplary embodimentmay be carried out by various different embodiments other than theabove-described exemplary embodiment. Hereinafter, another exemplaryembodiment of the information providing system 1 will be described.

8-1. Regarding Social Network Server

In the above-described example, although the social network server 50relays the message, but the exemplary embodiment is not limited thereto.For example, the social network server 50 may control transmission ofthe message or opening of the data in accordance with the emotion of theuser.

For example, the emotional information management table 27, the updatingunit 31, and the determining unit 33 which are illustrated in FIG. 2 areadded to the above-described functional configuration of the socialnetwork server 50 so that the social network server 50 may control thetransmission of the message in accordance with the emotion of the user.Further, the emotional information management table 27, the updatingunit 31, and the determining unit 33 are added to the functionalconfiguration of the social network server 50 so that a process todetermine whether to open data such as the text or the picture posted bythe user may be performed.

For example, the social network server 50 stores emotion specified bythe emotion determining server 40. When a message for a user whosespecified emotion is “angry state” is received, the social networkserver 50 does not transfer the message and notifies the transmissionsource of the message that the message cannot be transmitted. Therefore,the social network server 50 may restrict the contact with the user whois angry.

Further, for example, when the data posted by the user is requested toopen, the social network server 50 determines whether the emotion of theuser who is a posting source of the data is “angry state”. When theemotion of the user who is the posting source of the data is “angrystate”, the social network server 50 transmits a fact that the datacannot open to restrict the opening of the data such as the text or thepicture posted by the user. As described above, the social networkserver 50 may restrict the opening of the data posted by the user inaccordance with the emotion of the user.

Further, as described above, the process that determines whether to openthe data posted by the user in accordance with the emotion of the usermay be performed by the terminal devices 20 and 60 rather than thesocial network server 50. For example, when the data posted by the user#2 is acquired, the terminal device 60 determines whether the emotion ofthe user #2 is “angry state” and if the emotion of the user #2 is “angrystate”, may display a fact that the data posted by the user #2 cannot beacquired.

8-2. Regarding Determination of Emotion

In the above-described exemplary embodiment, the emotion determiningserver 40 uses the latest emotional score acquired from the user tospecify the emotion of the user. However, the exemplary embodiment isnot limited thereto. That is, if the emotion of the user is determinedbased on the emotional score acquired from the user, the emotiondetermining server 40 may use arbitrary method to determine the emotionof the user. For example, the emotion determining server 40 maydiscriminate biorhythm of the user from the emotional score acquiredfrom the user or the biosensor value acquired from the user anddetermine the current emotion of the user in consideration of thediscriminated biorhythm.

Further, the emotion of the user which is determined by the emotiondetermining server 40 is not limited to the above-described emotions.That is, the emotion determining server 40 may determine the emotion ofthe user at an arbitrary granularity.

8-3. Regarding Relation Between Emotion Determining Server and SocialNetwork Server

In order to transmit the emotional information to a friend of the userwhose emotion is determined, the emotion determining server 40 transmitsthe emotional information to the social network server 50. However, theexemplary embodiment is not limited thereto. That is, if the emotiondetermining server 40 can discriminate the transmission destination ofthe emotional information, the emotional information may be output tothe transmission destinations without passing through the social networkserver 50.

Further, the function of the emotion determining server 40 does not needto separate from the social network server 50. That is, the functionwhich is demonstrated by the emotion determining server 40 and thefunction which is demonstrated by the social network server 50 may beimplemented by one information processing device.

8-4. Whether to be Able to Transmit Message

In the above-described example, although it is described that when theemotion of the user who is the destination of the message is “angrystate”, the terminal device 20 restricts the transmission of themessage, the exemplary embodiment is not limited thereto. For example,when the emotion of the user who is the destination of the message isthe “ultra negative state”, the terminal device 20 may restrict thetransmission of the message. Further, when the emotion of the user whichis destination of the message is the “negative state”, the terminaldevice 20 receives the input of the message and also temporally waitsthe transmission of the message. When the emotion of the user who is thedestination of the message is the “positive state” or the “ultrapositive state”, the terminal device 20 may transmit a message whichtemporally waits for the transmission.

8-5. Regarding Biological Information

The above-described terminal device 20 acquires the biosensor value fromthe user and calculates the emotional score using the acquired biosensorvalue. Further, the emotion determining server 40 uses the emotionalscore calculated by the terminal device 20 to specify the emotion ofuser. However, the exemplary embodiment is not limited thereto. Forexample, the terminal device 20 transmits the biosensor value acquiredfrom the user to the emotion determining server 40 as it is. The emotiondetermining server 40 calculates the emotional score value from thebiosensor value received from the terminal device 20 and uses thecalculated emotional score value to specify the emotion of the user.Further, the emotion determining server 40 may not specify the emotionof the user from the emotional score, but determine the emotion of theuser using the biosensor value as it is, such as a heart rate or anelectro-dermal activity.

That is, in the above-described exemplary embodiment, the emotiondetermining server 40 may use the biological information includingarbitrary information acquired from the user, such as the biosensorvalue or the emotional score to determine the emotion of the user. Inthe following description, arbitrary information which is acquired fromthe user such as the biosensor value or the emotional score is referredto as biological information.

8-6. Others

The above-described terminal devices 20 and 60 display iconsrepresenting the emotion of the friend on the screen which allows theuser to select the destination of the message. However, the exemplaryembodiment is not limited thereto. For example, if the emotions of theusers are displayed on the screen which selects the point of contactsuch as an address book, in associated with the users, the terminaldevices 20 and 60 may display the emotion of each user on an arbitraryscreen.

Further, the functions of the above-described emotion determining server40 and the social network server 50 may be implemented by a plurality ofserver devices using so-called cloud function. For example, thefunctions which are demonstrated by the receiving unit 45, thedetermining unit 46, and the notifying unit 47 included in the emotiondetermining server 40 may be implemented by different server devices.

Further, the functions which are demonstrated by the receiving unit 55and the transmitting unit 56 included in the social network server 50may be implemented by different server devices. Further, the processwhich is performed by the determining unit 33 included in the terminaldevice 20 may be performed on the social network server 50 or anarbitrary cloud, rather than in the terminal device 20.

Further, in the above-described exemplary embodiment, an example thatthe terminal devices 20 and 60 are terminals such as smart phone hasbeen described. However, if the terminal devices 20 and 60 are displayprocessing devices which may display various items of information, theterminal device may be applied to a device other than the terminaldevice such as the smart phone. For example, the terminal device 20 maybe a tablet PC, a notebook computer, a desk top PC, or a personaldigital assistant (PDA).

Further, among the processes described in the above-described exemplaryembodiment, all or some of the processes which have been described to beautomatically performed may be manually performed or all or some of theprocesses which have been described to be manually performed may beautomatically performed by a known method. The processing procedure,specific name, or information including various data or parameters whichhas been described above or in the drawings may be arbitrarily changedif not specifically mentioned. For example, various items of informationillustrated in the drawings are not limited to the illustratedinformation. For example, a user interface (UI) of the applicationillustrated in the drawings is not limited thereto.

Components of respective devices illustrated in the drawings arefunctional and conceptual components and do not need to have thephysical configuration as described in the drawings. That is, thedistributed and combined specific embodiment of the devices is notlimited to the illustrated components, and all or some of the componentsmay be functionally or physically distributed or integrated in anarbitrary unit in accordance with various loads or usage conditions.Further, the functions which are demonstrated by the components may bedemonstrated when a central processing unit (CPU) executes apredetermined control program.

9. Effect

As described above, the emotion determining server 40 according to theexemplary embodiment collects biological information acquired from theuser, determines the emotion of the user using the collected biologicalinformation, and outputs the emotional information representing thedetermined emotion and the information representing the user to theterminal devices which are used by other users. Therefore, when theusers send messages, a mood of the user at the transmission destinationis known in advance so that the emotion determining server 40 allow theuser to determine whether to transmit the message in accordance with themood of the user at the transmission destination.

Further, the emotion determining server 40 allows the terminal devices20 and 60 to display the information representing the user and an iconrepresenting the emotion of the user on the screen which selects thepoint of contact. Therefore, the emotion determining server 40 may allowthe user to determine whether to contact the user at the point ofcontact in accordance with the emotion of the user at the point ofcontact.

Further, if the user's biological information falls within apredetermined range, the emotion determining server 40 determines thatthe user has a predetermined emotion. Therefore, the emotion determiningserver 40 may notify the mood of the user at the point of contact to theuser.

Further, if it is determined that the user has a predetermined emotion,the emotion determining server 40 restricts the terminal devices 20 and60 to provide a contact method of the user having a predeterminedemotion. Therefore, when the user at the point of contact has apredetermined emotion, the emotion determining server 40 may restrictthe contact from the user to the user at the point of contact.

If it is determined that the user has a predetermined emotion, theemotion determining server 40 restricts the social network server 50 tobrowse or open the data posted by the user. Here, the emotiondetermining server 40 may output the notice for restricting the browsingor opening of the data to the terminal devices which are used by otherusers. As a result, the emotion determining server 40 may control theopening of various data posted by the user in the SNS in accordance withthe emotion of the user.

Further, when the emotion of the user is determined, the emotiondetermining server 40 outputs the notice for displaying an iconrepresenting the user in a position corresponding to the determinedemotion on the axis corresponding to strength of the emotion, to theterminal device 60. Therefore, the emotion determining server 40 mayeasily discriminate the emotion of the user at the point of contact.

Further, when the emotion of the user is determined, the emotiondetermining server 40 outputs the determined emotion to the terminaldevices which are used by other users who are registered as friends ofthe user. Therefore, the emotion determining server 40 may allow thefriend of the user who has an emotion to be determined to know theemotion of the user.

Further, the emotion determining server 40 acquires the biologicalinformation collected by the biological information acquiring device 10which is mounted on the user. That is, the emotion determining server 40uses the biological information which is collected by a wearable devicewhich is mounted on the user to determine the emotion of the user.Therefore, the emotion determining server 40 may determine the emotionof the user in real time.

10. Program

The emotion determining server 40 in the above-described exemplaryembodiment is implemented when a computer 70 having a configurationillustrated in FIG. 13 executes an evaluation program. FIG. 13 is adiagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of acomputer which executes a control program. The computer 70 includes acentral processing unit (CPU) 71, a random access memory (RAM) 72, aread only memory (ROM) 73, a hard disk drive (HDD) 74, a communicationinterface (I/F) 75, an input/output interface (I/F) 76, and a mediainterface (I/F) 77.

The CPU 71 operates based on programs stored on the ROM 73 or the HDD 74and controls each parts. The ROM 73 stores a boot program which isexecuted by the CPU 71 when the computer 70 is activated or a programdepending on hardware of the computer 70.

The HDD 74 stores a control program executed by the CPU 71 and datawhich is used by the control program. For example, the HDD 74 storesdata same as the emotional score management table 44. The communicationinterface 75 receives data from another equipment through the network 2and sends the data to the CPU 71 and transmits the data created by theCPU 71 to the another equipment through the network 2.

The CPU 71 controls an output device such as a display or a printer andan input device such as a keyboard or a mouse through the input/outputinterface 76. The CPU 71 acquires data from the input device through theinput/output interface 76. Further, the CPU 71 outputs the created datato the output device through the input/output interface 76.

The media interface 77 reads a control program or data stored in arecording medium 78 and provides the control program or the data to theCPU 71 through the RAM 72. The CPU 71 loads the program from therecording medium 78 onto the RAM 72 through the media interface 77 andexecutes the loaded program. The recording medium 78 is a recordingmedium in which the control program according to the exemplaryembodiment is recorded and for example, is an optical recording mediumsuch as a digital versatile disc (DVD) or a phase change rewritable disk(PD), an magnetic optical recording medium such as a magneto-opticaldisk (MO), a tape medium, a magnetic recording medium, or asemiconductor memory.

When the computer 70 serves as the emotion determining server 40according to above-described exemplary embodiment, the CPU 71 of thecomputer 70 executes the program loaded on the RAM 72 to implement thefunctions of the receiving unit 45, the determining unit 46, and thenotifying unit 47.

The CPU 71 of the computer 70 reads the control program from therecording medium 78 and executes the control program but may obtain theprogram from another device through the network 2 as another example.

According to an aspect of the exemplary embodiment, when a user wants totransmit a message, it is possible to check a mood of a user of atransmission destination in advance.

Although the invention has been described with respect to specificembodiments for a complete and clear disclosure, the appended claims arenot to be thus limited but are to be construed as embodying allmodifications and alternative constructions that may occur to oneskilled in the art that fairly fall within the basic teaching herein setforth.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing device, comprising: acollecting unit which collects user's biometric information; adetermining unit which determines an emotion of the user by using adegree of the biological information collected by the collecting unit;and an output unit which outputs in association with informationrepresenting the user and the emotion of the user determined by thedetermining unit to terminal devices which are used by other users,wherein the output unit outputs a notice for displaying informationrepresenting the user in a position corresponding to the emotiondetermined by the determining unit in the screen that displays theemotion of the user to the terminal devices which are used by the otherusers, and wherein the output unit outputs a notice for restricting acontact method to the user to the terminal devices which are used by theother users if the determining unit determines that the user has apredetermined emotion and the terminal devices which receive the noticefor restricting the contact method, restrict the contact method to theuser.
 2. The information processing device according to claim 1, whereinthe output unit outputs a notice for displaying the emotion of the useron a screen which allows the other users to select a point of contact ofthe user to the terminal devices which are used by the other users. 3.The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein thedetermining unit determines that the user has the predetermined emotionif the user's biological information falls within a predetermined range.4. An information processing device comprising: a collecting unit whichcollects user's biometric information; a determining unit whichdetermines an emotion of the user by using a degree of the biologicalinformation collected by the collecting unit; and an output unit whichoutputs in association with information representing the user and theemotion of the user determined by the determining unit to terminaldevices which are used by other users, wherein the output unit outputs anotice for displaying information representing the user in a positioncorresponding to the emotion determined by the determining unit in thescreen that displays the emotion of the user to the terminal deviceswhich are used by the other users, and wherein the output unit outputs anotice for restricting browsing of data posted by the user to theterminal devices which are used by the other users if the determiningunit determines that the user has a predetermined emotion and theterminal devices which receive the notice for restricting the browsing,restrict browsing of the data posted by the user.
 5. The informationprocessing device according to claim 1, wherein the output unit outputsthe information representing the user and the emotion of the user to aterminal device which is used by another user who is registered as afriend of the user whose emotion is determined by the determining unit.6. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein thecollecting unit collects user's biological information acquired by abiological information acquiring device which is capable of beingmounted on the user.
 7. A control method performed by an informationprocessing device, the control method comprising: collecting user'sbiological information; determining an emotion of the user by using adegree of the biological information collected at the collecting; andoutputting in association with information representing the user and theemotion determined at the determining to terminal devices which are usedby other users, wherein the outputting includes outputting a notice fordisplaying information representing the user in a position correspondingto the emotion determined at the determining in the screen whichdisplays the emotion of the user to the terminal devices which are usedby the other users, and wherein the outputting includes outputting anotice for restricting a contact method to the user to the terminaldevices which are used by the other users if it is determined at thedetermining that the user has a predetermined emotion and furthercomprising restricting the contact method to the user from the terminaldevices that receive he notice for restricting the contact method. 8.The control method according to claim 7, wherein the outputting includesoutputting a notice for displaying the emotion of the user on a screenwhich allows the other users to select a point of contact of the user tothe terminal devices which are used by the other users.
 9. The controlmethod according to claim 7, wherein the determining includesdetermining that the user has the predetermined emotion if the user'sbiological information falls within a predetermined range.
 10. A controlmethod performed by an information processing device, the control methodcomprising: collecting user's biological information; determining anemotion of the user by using a degree of the biological informationcollected at the collecting; and outputting in association withinformation representing the user and the emotion determined at thedetermining to terminal devices which are used by other users, whereinthe outputting includes outputting a notice for displaying informationrepresenting the user in a position corresponding to the emotiondetermined at the determining in the screen which displays the emotionof the user to the terminal devices which are used by the other users,and wherein the outputting includes outputting a notice for restrictingbrowsing of data posted by the user to the terminal devices which areused by the other users if it is determined at the determining that theuser has a predetermined emotion and further comprising restricting thebrowsing to the data posted by the user from the terminal devices thatreceive the notice for restricting the browsing.
 11. A non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium having stored therein a controlprogram, the control program causing to execute a process, the processcomprising: collecting user's biological information; determining anemotion of the user by using a degree of the biological informationcollected at the collecting; and outputting in association withinformation representing the user and the emotion determined at thedetermining to terminal devices which are used by other users, whereinthe outputting includes outputting a notice for displaying informationrepresenting the user in a position corresponding to the emotiondetermined at the determining in the screen which displays the emotionof the user to the terminal devices which are used by the other users,and the outputting includes outputting a notice for restricting acontact method to the user to the terminal devices which are used by theother users if it is determined at the determining that the user has thepredetermined emotion and further comprising restricting the contactmethod to the user from the terminal devices that receive the notice forrestricting the contact method.
 12. A non-transitory computer readablestorage medium according to claim 11, the process wherein the outputtingincludes outputting a notice for displaying the emotion of the user on ascreen which allows the other users to select a point of contact of theuser to the terminal devices which are used by the other users.
 13. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 11,the process wherein the determining includes determining that the userhas the predetermined emotion if the user's biological information fallswithin a predetermined range.
 14. A non transitory computer readablestorage medium having stored therein a control program, the controlprogram causing to execute a process, the process comprising: collectinguser's biological information; determining an emotion of the user byusing a degree of the biological information collected at thecollecting; and outputting in association with information representingthe user and the emotion determined at the determining to terminaldevices which are used by other users, wherein the outputting includesoutputting a notice for displaying information representing the user ina position corresponding to the emotion determined at the determining inthe screen which displays the emotion of the user to the terminaldevices which are used by the other users, and the outputting includesoutputting a notice for restricting browsing of data posted by the userto the terminal devices which are used by the other users if it isdetermined at the determining that the user has the predeterminedemotion and further comprising restricting the browsing to the dataposted b the user from the terminal devices that receive the notice forrestricting the browsing.